Legend of the Valley of the End
by ShinSeiFuji
Summary: [AU][SasuNaru] The Valley of the End has a legend, that people who are unfortunate enough to come across it shall lose their most important thing. And yet quite unexpectedly, Naruto comes and finds Sasuke living here. And the gears of fate start turning.
1. Part I

**Legend of the Valley of the End**

Part I

Once upon a quiet time, when the world was young and the people a few, there lived a young man whose eyes were as dark as the moonless night. He was called Sasuke, and a fair young man he was, that his black eyes and raven hair made him look like a proud warrior, though he was not.

Sasuke lived alone in a humble hut, near a waterfall, in a clearing inside a forest, where no man braved to step foot. It was called the Valley of the End, and its name spoke of its purpose. Separating two lands was a waterfall whose waters were never still. Hearsay tells that whoever is unfortunate enough to find this place shall lose whatever thing he holds most dear.

It is with the thought that after losing his brother he could lose no more, that Sasuke decided to settle in this place, where every morning he would wake up to the misty, pale surrounding, the sun never bright nor the sky never blue to his eyes.

His life had been routinely ordinary and dull, and Sasuke was so used to it, that when one day a boy came, he was utterly surprised that he had almost killed him. He had mistaken the boy for a wild animal wandering in the bushes, that upon coming into view Sasuke jumped on him, and held a sharp stone over the boy's head. Realizing seconds later, that he was pinning a human and not an animal down, he lowered his guard.

The boy looking straight into Sasuke's eyes held a questioning expression, yet none of fear. He blinked once or twice, waiting for Sasuke's reaction, and seeing that Sasuke was not going to kill him, he smiled.

"Hi. I'm Naruto," he said in a rough voice, his wide smile gleaming with joy, as if someone finding a friend for the first time.

"Sasuke," was all that Sasuke muttered, still confused with the situation he's in, simply following the flow of the water.

"You have glass in your eyes," Naruto said, and it was the first time Sasuke noticed that the boy's eyes were bright blue.

"Huh, what?" Sasuke said, finally releasing the boy and rubbing his eyes.

The boy chuckled at Sasuke. "That's not it. Don't you know the story of the wicked sprite who made a mirror?"

Naruto took Sasuke's silence for a no, and continued. "It's a mirror that reflects the opposite of what really is, such that when something beautiful is held in front of it, it is reflected ugly."

Naruto pointed to the sky, and Sasuke's eyes followed the boy's hand. "The sprite took it up to the heavens. Way, way, up, that it shattered into a million pieces."

The boy remained looking up to the heavens for a while, and Sasuke noticed his dreamy expression, as if he were soaring the sky himself. When the boy removed his gaze from the sky and turned to Sasuke however, the dreamy look was gone."

"You have it. You have a piece of the mirror in your eyes."

Sasuke's face turned into a scowl. "I have no time for your jokes. Go back home."

Sasuke thought that his life had returned to normal, when the boy had not reappeared in the days that followed, but soon enough the blonde boy with the piercing bright blue eyes came back.

"Sasuke," Naruto greeted casually, as if they had been long time friends. Sasuke just ignored him and continued preparing his lunch.

The boy sat in one corner, watching Sasuke place the fish on top of the fire. He remained there until the fish was cooked, and remained still when Sasuke was licking the last of the meat off the fishbones. He remained fixed in his corner even as Sasuke began feasting on wild berries, but the boy's stomach began rumbling when Sasuke was halfway done.

Looking embarrassed as Sasuke finally looked at him, Naruto just flashed a silly smile. Sasuke sighed as he stood up, and handed Naruto the basket where the remaining wild berries were. As he turned his back, he heard the blonde say, "Sasuke is kind."

As time passed, the boy's visits have become more frequent, and Sasuke found himself cooking for two instead of one. Sasuke soon learned that the boy came from a village near the forest.

"The village is called Konoha, and it has the best ramen. The villagers only cook it around the Feast of the Kyubi during winter, it takes quite a while to prepare."

Naruto talks about a lot of things – about Konoha, about the people, about many things Sasuke has learned to live without. Naruto sometimes talks about the other end of the valley too – if Sasuke had ever wanted to see what's on the other side. Sasuke just tells him that either side would be the same.

From time to time the blonde boy goes back to talking about the glass in Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke had learned to shrug it off, but at one time he heard the boy say, "Maybe if I cry and my tears get into your eyes that glass would melt!"

"That's silly," Sasuke responded.

"It is, right?" Naruto said, thinking that he had once again uttered a stupid idea.

"I wouldn't want you to cry," Sasuke added, quite unaware himself why he had spoken such words. Upon seeing Naruto's smile however, he felt satisfied.

The rainy days came, and just as it was during the sunny season, Naruto kept visiting Sasuke. On one particular day however, when the skies brewed a violent storm, and when Sasuke had a lot of things in his head, Naruto had said something that the raven-haired boy did not like.

"Why is it, that on rainy days like this, the glass in your eyes become so visible?"

Sasuke had thought it best not to answer, but when Naruto had spent the whole afternoon trying to get an answer from him, he finally shot the boy an angry look.

"Why do you keep coming back here? Don't you know what this place is called? It's the Valley of the End! If you keep coming here, you'll lose something precious! So before you do, go back to your own little village and stay there!"

At that moment, Naruto's bright blue eyes had suddenly gone dim, and just before he left Sasuke's hut he said in a low voice, "But I have nothing to lose…"

Naruto did not return after that. Not a week after, nor when the rainy days were over. Upon the boy's absence Sasuke had felt a weight in his chest that grew heavier each day. He had contemplated going to the village of Konoha to look for the boy and had finally arrived at a yes, when Naruto showed at his doorstep.

"I made you some ramen," was Naruto's words when Sasuke opened the door. "As I told you it takes a while to prepare, and I was only lucky that this girl Sakura agreed to help me cook some before the Feast of Kyubi. I was hoping you weren't mad at me anymore"

It was a mixture of excitement, and a wishful longing fulfilled, and perhaps even with the mention of another girl, that Sasuke rushed towards the boy and enveloped the boy in his arms.

"It was also on a rainy day that I had lost my brother," Sasuke said, trying to explain what had long happened. "Please forgive me, I don't want you to leave me."

The blonde responded to the warmth by succumbing to it, and whispering the words, "I want to stay by your side too."

That night they feasted on the ramen that was arduously prepared by Naruto. It was as if life came back to Sasuke when he heard Naruto's stories once more. Though he felt uncomfortable at the mention of the name Sakura, he was somewhat glad that Naruto spoke of someone from Konoha, not from the outsider's point of view anymore, as he had always done.

When the bowls were washed and the table was cleaned, and when Naruto finally grew tired of telling stories, Sasuke led the boy to his bed. As he undressed the blonde whose face had gone red, Sasuke spoke. "You tell me that I have glass in my eyes. A glass that makes the ugly look beautiful, and the beautiful look bad."

He stopped momentarily to place a kiss on Naruto's lips. When they parted he continued, "Yet why is it, that when I look at you, I only see the most precious thing I've ever had?"

Naruto chuckled, just like that day when they first met. He playfully put his finger on Sasuke's chest as he said, "This. It's because you're looking at me with this."

That night when the two had consumed one another, Sasuke lay awake with a smile on his face, looking at the peacefully sleeping blonde. It was also the first night Sasuke had noticed a particular mark on Naruto's stomach. A black spiral tattoo that though incomprehensible to Sasuke, left him feeling uneasy. As his eyes followed the spiral line to its endpoint, he began to shiver. It was just as if he looked into the future, and saw that what awaits them is doom.


	2. Part II

_Part II_

It was during the start of winter, around the time when the huge black birds cross the sky to migrate to other lands, that Sasuke noticed the changes in Naruto. The boy spoke less and less and spent his time looking either up the sky or beyond the valley. He spoke little of Konoha, and only mentioned it when talking about Sakura. Sometimes, he would not even finish his stories, and simply space out, following the flight of the black birds with his eyes, his words left hanging in the air like a story with no ending.

Sasuke had tried asking the blonde what he was worried about, but Naruto simply gives him a smile, in his eyes an emotion Sasuke didn't even see the moment he had almost killed him: fear.

At times when Naruto spends the night at Sasuke's, the blonde would cling to his partner, as if not wanting to let go of the other. Naruto would often ask Sasuke to hold him, like a child asking to be put to sleep. Finally, one night, after making love, and both of them still awake, Sasuke asked Naruto a question.

"It's winter already. Didn't you say your village has a festival around this time of the year?"

At Sasuke's words, Naruto shivered. He began crying and clung hard to Sasuke.

"Sasuke… please… take me away."

Alarmed at the boy's reaction, Sasuke held him tight and asked, "What's the matter, Naruto? Tell me, what's wrong."

"They're going to kill me." Naruto sobbed.

"What are you talking about?"

Naruto tried to calm himself down before talking again so that Sasuke could understand his next words. "This mark you see on my stomach, is the mark of a sacrifice. I was born with it so that on my 18th year, at the Feast of the Kyubi, I will be offered to the fox god to be eaten alive.

"There is no way out of the village but this place. It's the only place that they fear barging into. I have not gone back to the village in days. The times I say goodbye to you, I stay in the forest. But I fear that since the day of the feast is near, they will risk going even to the Valley of the End just to retrieve me."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Sasuke said, confused. "And what's this about sacrifices anyway? This is ridiculous!"

"The only way to calm the Kyubi is through a human sacrifice, or else the village will be destroyed," Naruto said with a sad look on his face.

There was silence between the two, and for a moment there was nothing to be heard but the troubled whirring of the waterfall and the cawing of the black birds.

"Tomorrow at dawn, we'll cross the valley. There is a narrow passage behind the waterfall that will lead us to the other side."

"But that's too dangerous," Naruto exclaimed.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Sasuke said, kissing the blonde to silence his fears.

Early in the morning after, the two packed what little belonging they had, and set out for the valley. When they had arrived at the narrow passage, Sasuke warned Naruto, "We cannot walk together, the passage is narrow, but you go ahead, and I'll be right behind you."

And so, the two started crossing the valley, Naruto, a few steps ahead of Sasuke. The blonde feeling uneasy, kept looking back at Sasuke, that when he tripped over a sharp stone, he almost fell. Sasuke reached out for the boy's arm in time for Naruto to regain his balance. "Don't be afraid, I'm right here," is what he said. "See those black birds? They make it to the other side just fine."

It was noon when they reached halfway their destination, and Naruto, once again, perhaps due to extreme heat and too much walking, almost fell. This time, Sasuke had to hold Naruto's body and press it against the valley, so that the boy regained composure. "Just a little more, we're almost there," is what he said.

Alas, it was almost dusk when Naruto had finally stepped foot on the other side, his eyes brimming with joy upon his triumph. "Sasuke, over here!" he waved at the young man, still in the passage, just five or six steps away from the goal.

Sasuke smiled at him too, happy that the boy earned his freedom, but just as he was about to take another step, the winds, as if making fun of them, suddenly went into a wild rage. The black birds panicked and flew to different directions.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out.

But the raven-haired young man could not hear him. He was flailing his hands as he took cover from the wind.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out once more.

Sasuke struggled, and as he did, he hit one black bird that flew to his direction. The bird grew angry and began attacking him.

"Sasuke, look out!" Naruto screamed, horrified at the nightmare that was taking place.

The bird kept attacking Sasuke, cawing loudly. Soon enough his companions heard him, and began attacking the young man as well. From Naruto's point of view, he could see how the birds preyed on Sasuke. Until finally, one bird, with its fearsome claws, took out the young man's left eye. Screaming with pain, Sasuke lost his balance, and fell into the water.

When Sasuke woke up next, his whole body was in pain. With darkness taking over the other, Sasuke could only open his right eye. He was lying on a bed, in a hut that he did not recognize.

"Naruto," he uttered in a voice that almost cannot be heard.

"I'm sorry," a high-pitched voice responded, unfamiliar to Sasuke's ears. He looked to his side, and there he saw an unfamiliar face – a fair young woman with pink hair.

"My name is Sakura. I'm sorry I cannot take you to the village, nor can I take you back to the valley for I fear that place."

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked, but the girl shook her head.

"He made it to the other side, didn't he? I saw him," Sasuke said in a voice as loud he could.

Sakura looked surprised for a moment then spoke, "The villagers found you both floating in the waters. They took Naruto away, and while they were busy with the feast, I took you here. It was the only thing I can do."

"No, no…" Sasuke said, sitting up. "He made it to the other side!"

"Then he must've jumped into the water to save you."

"That's stupid! That's stupid!" was all Sasuke could say. "Wait, where is he? We have to take him away from the villagers!" Sasuke said, grabbing Sakura and shaking her violently.

"The feast… is over, Sasuke." Sakura said in pain.

Sasuke let go of Sakura and trembled in disbelief.

"I'm sorry… I tried to talk to the villagers, but they wouldn't listen to me. I couldn't do a thing. The last words Naruto told me was to take care of you."

Sasuke remained silent.

"Did you know? That boy wasn't really afraid of death until he met you. Although I only knew him after he had asked me how to cook ramen, that silly boy, he told me all about you. And he told me about the valley. And I guess, the legend is true, after all."

Sasuke lay back down on the bed and turned away from Sakura.

"There is nothing more I can do for you," Sakura said. "You can stay here as long as you like, nobody will bother you. There is plenty of food on the table, and plenty more outside, when you've regained enough strength to gather them for yourself. In three days, your right eye will be healed. Until then, do not take the cloth off. I must return to the village, now."

And just before the pink-haired girl left the hut, she left Sasuke these words."Though blood and flesh gone and had become one with the fox god, Naruto's still always with you."

Three days later, just as the girl had said, Sasuke's left eye healed. When Sasuke gained enough strength, he left the place. He did not go to Konoha to take revenge, nor back to the Valley of the End. He simply traveled, until finally one day found a village far from any body of water, for he had learned not to love it. He became a farmer, where he cooked and produced food for the village, just as what he would have done for the boy if only he were still alive.

It was hard to live on with only the memory of the boy, yet with even without Naruto, his days were never again too dull nor too pallid. They were bittersweet, and at best peaceful with little longing. It was, as what that girl Sakura had said, as if the boy had never left him, always reminding him how beautiful the world can be if one would only learn to look at with his eyes. For if only Sasuke had looked at himself in the water for even just a moment, he would have noticed, that even though his right eye had glass in it, the other one was bright blue.

In another world, in another time, yet strangely in the same place, these two will meet again, though the circumstance different. Yet nevertheless the legend holds true, that those unfortunate enough to come to this place shall lose the thing dearest to them, perhaps this time, not by death, but a far more painful separation of two friends, of two lovers – where one holds on, and the other lets go.


End file.
